Ten Mistakes For My Sister's Love
by Prewritesuccession
Summary: Serena is Sakuno Ryuzaki's older sister. They could be no more different; Sakuno is shy and reserved while Serena is more bold and outgoing around people. But when Serena realizes her sister's fancy for a certain cocky boy, she is determined to help Sakuno overcome her chronic shyness through the "Ten Mistakes For My Sister's Love." Told first person through Serena's point of view.
1. I Meddle So Sue Me

_ "Go and be number one in the world, Ryoma-kun." He barely glanced at her before flipping the edge of his cap down and left, Seigaku tennis club jacket draped over his shoulders like a cape. Sakuno watched until he disappeared into the terminal and stayed standing at the gate until the plane had long since flown away. _

_ "Go and live your dream, Ryoma-kun." Sakuno waved as he stepped onto the subway to take him away, far away, to Europe where he was currently training for Wimbleton. The newspapers screamed sports weekly about a rapidly rising junior player from Japan. She sighed. It'd been a year since he had last left and now he was leaving again. _

_ "Go and train until you reach your goal, Ryoma-kun." He hadn't won Wimbleton. In fact, he had lost in the quarter-finals in a hideous 6-1 game. Sakuno had kept telling me that he'd figure out his opponent's style while we were watching the spectacle on television; that he always did pull through. Apparently, not this time. He did train hard, though, and the next year was a charm. The rapidly rising junior player from Japan who had won the U.S. Open had just conquered Europe's Wimbleton, too. Sakuno cheered at the T.V. with everyone else but I could tell that through her happiness she was missing him too. _

_ "Go and win the world, Ryoma-kun." She tried not to sound sad as he left, once again. Sakuno was getting tired of telling him 'go.' Her heart was telling him to 'stay', but her mouth would never say those words aloud. It was his dream. Who was she to come between that? I sighed. This was getting out of hand. And as her loving sister, I thought I would step in and give her a little push in the right direction. That was what sisters did, right? How hard could it be to win the heart of the cocky guy my sister loved? __I flipped my hair. I'd be gentle with Sakuno when I gave her the push. _I decided to meddle. So what? Maybe something good would happen. 

_ That was my first mistake. _


	2. I Betray Her Privacy

He had come home. Finally. After two years, he had come back. Sakuno gushed to me about it. She _gushed_. Not talked in a little voice like she usually does. She had _gushed_. I cannot emphasize the importance of this. Sakuno, the quiet one, shy, timid, was _gushing_ to me about how happy she was that Ryoma-kun was back. That was the first clue for me to know how much she actually liked him.

We were in the family room. I was reading on the couch and she was kneeling at the ground looking up at me with her giant brown eyes. "-And then, Ryoma-kun finished it with the Cyclone Smash and his opponent looked so shocked and baffled to realize Ryoma-kun had already won." Sakuno was retelling me about the events leading up to his Wimbleton victory. I flipped the page and tuned her out. I had watched reruns with her and listened to her talk about it for the last few weeks. I nodded to pretend that I was listening.

Sakuno sighed longingly after finishing her story. Seeing her, or, rather hearing her like this, it was just _sad_. I put the book down hard on my lap. "Sakuno, you like him, yes?" She looked up at me in surprise, then blushed and nodded. "_Then...why...don't...you...ask...him...out?_" I punctuated each word. Sakuno was the sweetest person ever but sometimes didn't understand things unless you shoved it right up into her face. Blushing even darker, her long braids whipped behind her as she shook her head furiously back and forth.

"N-no, I couldn't do that, Serena." She looked down at the carpet under her knees. "Maybe you could, but I can't." I was partially angry at her for comparing herself to me. _When would she understand that I wasn't her and she wasn't me?_ After that thought pasg I just felt sad. _Poor Sakuno, so sad and scared. She doesn't belive in herself and her beauty. _Somehow, I knew no amount of dressing up or complimenting would change her mind. Sighing with her, I picked my book back up and flipped back to my page. Sakuno's phone suddenly rang and a bubbly tune sounded. She snapped it out of her dress pocket, checked the number and pressed 'receive.'

"Hello? Hi, Grandma. What? Right now?" She glanced at me. "Sure, I'll be right there." Sakuno ended the call. I looked at her expectantly. Sakuno pointed at the screen. "That was Grandma." I was tempted to made a _no way! _Face, but that would've been mean. Meanwhile, Sakuno grabbed her purse and slipped on her little pair of flats. "I'm going to tennis practice. You stay here." I shrugged, looking back at my book. It was tennis practice; how boring. I wasn't an athletic person and Sakuno knew that. She was sports, I was arts. How different for sisters.

I heard the door close. Leaning over, I peered around the corner and watched as Sakuno went down the front steps, past the mailbox, and across the street. Only then did I start to move. I put down the book on the table. Everlost would have to wait. Flying up the stairs, I opened the door to Sakuno's bedroom. It was neat as usual, her white-washed walls bare except for a single painting of a pink flower in a glass vase; a piece I had done for her as a birthday present last year. Her desk was empty but a filing cabinet held all of her things beside her bed. Opening the second drawer, I dug around through the folders until reaching down near the back and pulled out a leather-bound white book with tiny pink flowers embroidered around the edges. _Sakuno's diary._

I felt vaguely guilty about snooping around. But my sister was so shy she didn't even tell _me _how she felt about a lot of things. Biting my lip in anticipation and guilt, I turned the first page. Written in her neat, unbelievably straight kanji letters were these words:

**I'm afraid that someone else will read this and judge me on these words.**

** I'm more afraid that I will read this and judge myself.**

This made me stop. _Maybe I shouldn't read it... _But the words that leaked through the page beckoned me and I couldn't resist but turn the first sheet. I skimmed her loose writing looking and gave a start. It was all about Ryoma. At least every paragraph mentioned his name. Smiling at my sister's innocence and little-girl excitement, I flipped through until coming to the last page she had written in. It was dated August 4; just a week ago. I began to read.

**I told Serena about Ryoma-kun's victory again. I could tell she wasn't listening, but she never interrupted or told me how annoyed about it I could tell she really was. She always says she's a bad listener, but at least she doesn't tell you she doesn't care.**

I stopped again. Sakuno was so sweet; saying these things even though only she would read it. Well, her and me. But she didn't have to know that. I debated whether or not to continue when my eyes wandered over the next line of her script.

**Serena keeps telling me to go and take a chance. Ryoma-kun hardly ever remembers my name. What would we do together? What could we talk about? Would he even say yes? He's so busy and every other girl loves him now that he's famous and won Wimbleton. **

I felt my face suddenly burn in anger. Sakuno had no self-faith. How dare she? How dare _he_? Shoving the book back into its place, I slammed the drawer closed with a metallic ringing. "_Every other girl loves him_?" Can't you believe in yourself for at least a minute, Sakuno? Honestly! Marching down the stairs, I seethed, angrily pacing. _Was he that worth it? He doesn't even remember her _name_? _ Shoving on my sneakers, I grabbed the loose house-key hanging on the ring next to the door and stomped up to the hall mirror, examining myself. I wanted to make sure I looked my best before I started screaming. My loose dark curls slithered down my back like snakes. The long blue top I had on sported a collar of mismatched buttons that were sewed into the fabric. The dark azure plaid rimming was tearing at the edges. I ripped off a few strands of the fray. The threads matched the color of the dark jeans I had on over my white sneakers.

Grinning wickedly, my black eyes shone. I was pumped up. I would deal with this arrogant boy myself. Even though Sakuno and I were both fourteen, I personally think I can deal with people a whole lot better than she can. Maybe reading her diary wasn't the best way to get inside her head. But what can I say? I'm not a patient person. Some part of me knew that from the first flip, it had been a bad idea. But I had drunk in everything already, anyway. There wasn't anything else I could do but go.

That was my second mistake.


	3. I Attend a Boys' Tennis Club

When I got there, I saw Sakuno standing with Grandma observing a bunch of guys in jackets playing tennis. I recognized Ryoma-kun among them. Jogging up to Sakuno, I tapped her shoulder without alerting Grandma and gestured to have her follow me. She glanced at the players until creeping away. I kept a stride in front of her and walked behind the warm-up room to talk. I wasn't mad anymore, but I still came anyway. Sakuno still needed to learn that she was a kind, beautiful girl who deserved someone better. But if she wasn't ready to move on, it was the least I could do to help her get a date.

Her eyes were wide. "Serena, what are you doing here?" I cocked my head.

"A girl can't visit once in a while?" Sakuno eyed me in worry. Why was she worried? I smiled and pushed her arm gently. "Besides. I thought it would be interesting to...attend." Of course, I didn't tell her I wanted to set her up with her crush. You just couldn't push that kind of thing, especially with Sakuno. "Well, anyway, I just wanted to resume our talk about Ryoma-kun." Her face turned beet red. I pretended not to notice. "And, I thought that you could ask him to lunch _now_. I'll be right next to you." SAkuno gaped at me in horror.

"S-Serena...you can't _really _expect me to..." she trailed off and plucked the edge of her braid. I put on my most stern, most sisterly look and rose to my full height which I was delighted to find was much taller than Sakuno.

"Sakuno. You _will_ do this." Before she could open her mouth to protest, I spun her around on her heel, pushing her shoulders lightly. Her feet stumbled on the ground even though I didn't push very hard. She started to push back after recovering from the shock. The boys were just leaving the courts. Ryoma-kun came out last and went over to talk to a few older guys hanging out around the trees, watching the practice. I frowned and furrowed my brow. They looked familiar; maybe we went to the high school together. Shrugging, I continued to wheel Sakuno over to where Ryoma-kun was standing.

Sakuno struggled harder, but didn't scream. She wouldn't want all that attention. Ryoma-kun turned and went to get dressed. I pulled Sakuno's hand and trailed behind him. Then she did something totally unexpected: Sakuno shrieked. I looked at her in alarm and smacked a hand over her mouth. Glancing over, I gave a sigh when Ryoma-kun didn't turn around. But his friends were watching me. There were six of them, peering at Sakuno and I with strange expressions. Looking down, I realized Sakuno was waving at them; signaling for help. I flashed them my most radiant smile and turned her around then gently shoved her towards Ryoma-kun whose back was to us.

Even though I had pushed lightly, Sakuno still tripped forward and grasped Ryoma-kun's shoulder to sturdy herself. Wildly looking around for cover, I sprinted over to the bulletin board a few yards away and relaxed my shoulders like I had been there for a long time. But inside, my heart raced and I had to keep reminding myself not to turn around. I heard Sakuno stutter something about 'Serena' and footsteps came over and stopped behind me. I put on my most innocent expression and turned around with a face full of mock-worry, apprehension, and caution. They were "strangers."

"May I help you?" I furrowed my eyebrows and took a small step back like I was hesitant to talk with them. Sakuno's mouth opened and closed like a fish. Glancing at Ryoma-kun, his expression was passive. His white cap was pulled over a tangle of messy black hair. Golden-green eyes watched me. I looked at them. "May I help you?" I asked a little louder. Finally, Sakuno sighed.

"No, sorry. I got the wrong person." I blinked at her. I hadn't expected her to say that; to cover me. Fighting my smile, I nodded solemnly and turned around again. I heard Ryoma-kun and Sakuno's footsteps walk away. I turned around again when their voices disappeared completely. The courts were empty except for me and the high school boys who were Ryoma-kun's friends. They still stared at me. I cocked my head in their direction then slowly pressed a finger to my lips. Then turned away without another word.

I took the bus home by myself. A little while later, Sakuno and Grandma came in to find me, reading Everlost on the couch like I had never left. Looking up at them, I glanced up then back down at the page. Of course I was itching to ask Sakuno what had happened, but just not in front of Grandma; she was sensitive about sneaking around behind her back. After dinner, Sakuno found me listening to my American music in my room. Opening my door, she immediately winced and I turned the noise down. She said all the foreign words bugged her ears. I had been so confused at that. They _bugged _her ears? But I had _lived _in the U.S. and I had favorite artists there too. That was another difference: I loved my new tracks, she loved the classics.

I could tell Sakuno wasn't mad anymore so I didn't feel as if I needed to apologize; she already knew I was sorry. We _were _sisters, you know. Sitting on the edge of my bed with me, Sakuno's eyes drifted over all of the things I had posted over the walls: artwork, both framed and just taped up, posters of various artists and books, spare pieces of my loopy writing over pieces of drawing paper. She looked at me spinning around on the chair at my desk. Why were wheelie chairs so fun?

"So, how'd it go?" Sakuno blinked at me and gave what I swore was a tiny smile. Stopping myself, I let my feet drag across the ground. My imploring gaze made her blush. She picked at the loose ends of her braids.

"Well, um...tomorrow...we're having lunch together." I blinked. It had worked. She had done it. My little sister had gotten a _date_. I jumped up and grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet. I squealed.

"Ah! Sakuno, you have a _date_!" I hugged my little sister hard. Her wide eyes were open wide in surprise. It was rare to see me in such an exuberant mood. "Well, tell me all about it!" I sat down on the mattress.

She started blushing again. "Well, after he called me weird that I had a sister," she glanced up at me and I gave her a sheepish smile, "I asked if he'd like to go and have lunch with me tomorrow and...he said yes." Her profuse flush darkened even more. "And that's all." I smiled wide. _My sister had a date with the boy she liked. What could be better than that?_ Her eyes met my own with an edge that I had never known existed. "Serena," she said with a stern voice. I raised my eyebrows. What could be so serious? "Please don't follow us." I blinked. _Follow them?_ I hadn't even considered doing that, but the more I thought about it, the better it seemed. Laughing out loud, I patted my little sister's head fondly. Sakuno knew me so well.

"Serena," she warned, her voice still stern. I laughed again and raised my arms in surrender.

"Alright, alright!" Sakuno softened and smiled again. "But you have to tell me _everything_." She giggled with me until we started to yawn and we said our goodnights. Sakuno dreamily walked back into her room and I heard her hum from across the hall.

I lay down and played a slow track that would stop automatically after fifteen minutes. _My sister. My baby sister._ She was so smitten. I smiled and closed my eyes. She had a _date _tomorrow. Tucking the sheets around me, I yawned again, then suddenly sat up with a jolt. A horrible thought crept past my mind. _What if she messed up? What if she would be so shy that she couldn't talk?_ I violently pressed the radio off on my bedside table.

_Maybe I should follow her. _

No! I yelled at myself. Sakuno had specifically told me _not _to. Can't I _ever_ stop thinking of meddling?

_I'll just _watch_. If she ever gets so awkward that I have to step in though, I will._ But I pictured Sakuno's firm stare, her usually kind and gentle brown eyes steely. However, the other part of my mind had a different opinion.

_Come on. I want to see what she does. Anyway, not like I'll go and mess everything up for her and Sakuno won't even _see _me._

Sighing, I wearily decided (once again) that I would go against my sister's orders. But this time, I would be more cautious; she'd never even know I was even there. I lay back down and switched the radio on again. But sleeping that night was easier than done. My arms prickled uncomfortably against my sheets. I took a breath and reassured myself that it would be alright; that it _was _okay. I closed my eyes and let Lady Antebellum sing me to sleep. It'd be fine as long as I was careful. _It'd be all fine. _I was being too naïve.

That was my third mistake.


	4. I Follow a Stalker

** Thank you for all the reviews, everybody: I'll take them into consideration for the next few chapters! Thanks! :D ...And keep reading my stuff! (please) **

**For some reason, I feel li****ke I don't talk to you guys *gesturing wildly at my computer screen* very much as other authors. So from this point on, I'll be answering some questions you guys have about this story (or anything else) publicly in the publication. Leave comments and...stuff!**

**Also, I've found it rather annoying to keep switching back and forth between the stories (I always get confused of my characters: "Ahhh! Am I Chatelaine, Serena, Lacey, Ariadne, Faith, or Genieve?!), so I'm trying not to start any other stories until I'm done with these. :D We'll see how it turns out! Thanks for supporting me and Serena this far and check out my other stories too!**

* * *

The next morning, I realized two things. One, it was a Sunday, and two, I had no idea when or where Sakuno and Ryoma's date was. Waking up, I had immediately realized Sakuno was gone: she was always loud in the morning, opening drawers and brushing her teeth.

Today, Sakuno was probably helping Grandma with the boys' tennis club again (I've always been curious as to _what _she does there, actually). So I packed my things and prepared to go watch some dudes play tennis. After all, Ryoma-kun was in that club, and it would make sense if they left together after practice.

The same shady bunch of Ryoma-kuns friends were under the trees again, but this time there were _more _of them. I gave them a wary look then made my way around Sakuno and Grandma, into the cover of the surrounding trees. If I was lucky, no one would see me. And then, after practice was done, I could wait until the coast was clear and...tag along. Sakuno wouldn't notice. For the last six months I was here, (Okay, well, I've only _been _here six months after Mom and Dad went to China for business) I'd been sneaking around all over the place (It hadn't been anything bad; but she always borrowed my books and went to sleep before returning them). It was always alright because she didn't notice I had taken them from her bedroom. Plus, believe it or not, she was a _very_ heavy sleeper.

Practice seemed to last forever and the midday sun started to make me sweaty even though I was in the shade and wasn't even moving around like the guys actually _playing _tennis (is that sad?). Finally, _finally_, after what I thought was days, they began to wrap up. Ryoma-kun and the other guys went in to go change and Sakuno straightened the tiny bag slung over her dress. I scratched my head. _Big bags were so much more convenient,_ I thought, subconsciously shouldering my own back-pack. I snuck out from under the cover of trees and felt the eyes of Rypma-kun's friends on me. _Why were they staring? _I thought a little bit annoyed; glancing to make sure Sakuno hadn't followed their gazes and seen me.

Ryoma-kun eventually came out later in a clean shirt and a pair of shorts. They started walking together towards downtown. I followed them, always making sure their backs were turned before creeping forward again. Ducking through an alley, I questioned my decision of wearing bright colors. I had told myself that it would've been a questionable action to wear all black like those stupid people always do in those movies even though it was during daylight that they followed someone. I mean, how many people wear all black in daylight?_ How suspicious is that?_

Then, as I poked my head around to keep Sakuno in sight, a rustle in my peripheral made me twitch. My first thought was, _How did they get behind me?! _But I turned and saw Sakuno and Ryoma, walking farther ahead. I focused my eyes on the place where I had thought I had seen something. There were a giant high-voltage box; a perfect shape and size to hide behind. Looking forward to make sure Sakuno wasn't looking, I came out from my hiding place and walked up and peeked behind the box.

There were Ryoma-kun's shady friends, crouching behind the light-green box, looking up at me with eyes like I was their mother and they were my children I had just caught doing some naughty act. Putting my hands on my hips, I raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Who're you guys?" They exchanged a few glances between themselves before one with spiky hair finally spoke.

"We're Echizen's friends." I tried not to act annoyed. _No duh._ But I decided against being rude. I've learned that wasn't the best way to get information out of a reluctant person. Instead of scowling, I laughed.

"Of course you are." I turned my gaze serious and tried to look as edgy as I could. "But why may I ask are you following us?" This time, a guy with strange hair spoke up.

"We were being curious and followed Sakuno and Echizen's date." I raised an eyebrow then bent down next to them. Smiling, I brushed the stray locks out of my face.

"What a coincidence. Looks like we're both on the same business," I said with a laugh. They looked at me, surprised. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Serena, Serena Ryuzaki." They looked surprised.

"You're Sakuno's sister?" A boy with bright red hair asked, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. I took it in stride and spit out some sarcasm.

"No, I'm her mother," I said in all seriousness. Only the guy with straight brown hair gave a chuckle. "Anyway," I looked out over the box. "It seems as though they're getting away from us." Smiling, I stood and reached out a hand to help them up. "Shall we go?" The kid with the spiky hair stood up first and grinned.

"I'm Momoshiro, but you can call me Momo-chan. This is Eiji-senpai," he said, pointing at the red-haired boy. He bounced up and grinned at me.

"I'm Oishi," the guy with the strange hair said, then gesturing to the boy with light brown hair, "this is Fuji." I smiled. Then, as a strange, out-of-place group, we all followed my sister and their friend.

We walked leisurely out in the open. Sakuno and Ryoma-kun were already far ahead and wouldn't be able to tell who we were unless they came closer and looked. Soon, they disappeared into a ramen shop. I cursed in my head. I hadn't thought this through very well. How would we get inside without Sakuno noticing me? And I was pretty sure Ryoma-kun wouldn't be ecstatic to see his senpai-tachi stalking him either. I chewed my lip in concentration. Not seeing made me feel antsy and nervous. I walked in front of the closed door, thinking. _How to get in...how to watch..._

"Serena," Fuji whispered, gesturing over to where he and the others stood. They were at the alley separating this store and the next. Momo pointed at a back door in between two giant dumpsters. A fence about two times my height barred our entry.

"-so first we'll hoist Oishi-senpai over," he was saying, "then I can help Serena and you can assist her down on the other side." I flushed with indignation. I was strong and I didn't need their help to climb a little wall. Looking around, I saw a few more uneven dumpsters that led like plastic steps. Crawling up the first one, I kept my eyes up and tried not to touch the filthy dumpsters. Soon enough, I was balanced on the tallest one and reached up, grabbing the rusty fencing across the top. I stuffed the toe of my sneaker into one of the holes and pushed off with the other foot.

For a second I swayed precariously over the wire and wondered why I had done this in the first place. But I hardened my grip and swung my legs over, took a breath, and let myself fall. I landed crouched down to cushion the blow and dusted the yellowish residue from the rust off of my fingers. Momo, Eiji, Oishi and Fuji were looking at me.

I was strong. I didn't need their help. Smiling, I straightened up and put my hands on my hips again.

"You guys coming or what?"

But I never should have even come, let alone break and enter. But only after would I know the full consequences of my actions and feel the regret that was my own: always, only my own.

That was my fourth mistake.


	5. I Justify My Mistakes

After we all got over, we debated the next issue of business: who would risk opening the door and going inside to spy.

"No, Eiji's more nimble and he'd be quieter, too, so he should go first," Momo pointed out. "Eiji's like a cat and Oishi, Fuji, Serena, and I wouldn't be able to pull it off!"

"Nya! That's not fair logic!" Eiji retorted. "Fuji's plenty nimble, too. Why do _I _have to risk getting caught? Plus, my red hair is too out-of-place."

"Hm. I agree with both of you, but I think whoever wants to go should go first," Fuji stated, head resting lightly on his hand.

"That's kind of the problem," I pointed out. "If you haven't noticed, no one's really that eager to go in and spy. I mean observe."

"Very observant of you, Sakuno's sister," Momo said playfully with more than a touch of sarcasm. I blinked and looked around.

"Who's Sakuno's sister? I'm _Serena_. You really should get to know people by who _they _are, sir." I put my hands on my hips. "How would you feel if people started addressing you with 'Fuji's friend'?" Crossing my arms, I put on my most stern expression. "Likewise I don't appreciate being 'Sakuno's sister,' and while we're talking about you, why does your hair always stick up so much? What do you do? Use chicken fat?"

"Nya, I'm so confused. So you _aren't _her mother?"

Needless to say, I had made my point. If anyone else when in first, it wouldn't be me. Maybe I was acting too selfish. Maybe I was being too impulsive. But frankly, right now, I didn't really care. I just wished _someone _would go in and report what was going on.

"Well, maybe someone should go in and everyone else stay out here," Oishi offered. In the end, we went with this plan and Momo half-heartedly volunteered. So the rest of us hung out near the dumpsters, looking like a stereotypical group of shady teens. I slid down behind a bin and read the graffiti on the brick walls and plastic trash dumpsters, shaking my head in disappointment. So vulgar.

Fuji came over and sat next to me.

"So, Serena..." he said, trying to start a conversation.

"So, Fuji..." I responded. I'd played this game before with lots of other people who wanted to start talking to you. What I didn't understand was why people even played this game. Wasn't it easier to be just like, "Hey, can I talk to you?"

"Do you play tennis like your sister?" Fuji asked. I tilted my head in his direction. Usually people liked to keep playing 'word ping-pong' for a little longer before getting to the point. I smiled at his straight-forwardness and shrugged.

"If you count me picking up a racket, swinging it blindly at an approaching ball, and watching it hit me in the face," I grinned at him. "Then sure, I'm amazing at tennis." He smiled as Oishi and Eiji came walking over. They sat over next to us and joined the conversation.

"Then what _do _you do, Serena?" Eiji asked with a dubious look on his face. I scowled. _What? Everything worth doing was in sports?_ I tried not to sound as irritated as I actually felt.

"Oh, the usual," I started. _What were my hobbies? I liked a lot of things and I was good at pretty much everything outside of sports._ "Piano, crafts, fine arts," I put up a finger for each one. "...cooking, reading poetry, writing narratives and short stories, singing, painting, pressing flowers, model-making, collecting shells, macramé, making dolls, crocheting, photography, microscopy, and a little bit of chess." I let go of my fingers, not really caring how many I had named. I had made my point. Tennis was _not _the only thing worth my time.

They stared at me, making me uncomfortable.

"What?" I said uncertainly. _Man, I wish they'd just stop staring. _

Then, the back door creaked open and a few different things happened at once. Eiji and I shrunk back so we couldn't be seen, Fuji and Oishi jumped up to defend, and a very sweaty, very exhausted-looking Momo came, collapsing on the ground in a pile of sweat, clothes, and more sweat. That was the thing (Okay, _one _of the things) about men. They sweat _so much. _

After the initial shock past, all of us collectively pounced on Momo with a bombardment of questions.

"What happened?"

"What're Ochibi and Sakuno doing?"

"Did you hear what they were saying?"

"Why are you so gross and sweaty?"

Everyone stared at me. _So much staring! It was a legitimate question!_ "What?" I asked, honestly unsure of why my previous question had been so strange. _He was gross and sweaty. It was so true!_

We waited impatiently until he finally stopped panting. "There was...a giant...bowl...and they...almost saw, then..." he wheezed.

"Just shut up and drink some water," I said curtly, grabbing an unopened bottle from my backpack and shoving it into his hand. Maybe I was being too impatient. But I _needed to know._ They didn't know how much it _pained me _not to know.

Momo quickly downed the bottle and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket. He gave one last shuddering breath and finally started speaking.

"I went in and it led to a hallway with four doors. One was the kitchen, another male restroom, a female restroom, and the final door was out to the shop. I peeked through the grates of the door leading outside and then saw Echizen and Sakuno, just sitting there, eating ramen. So I leaned forward to listen and then a waiter came from serving another customer and he was carrying a giant bowl of ramen and I ducked to avoid it. Then, Echizen caught a glance at me and said, 'Momo-senpai?' so I ran out here." Momo started panting again after saying most of all that with one breath.

I laughed, earning myself another strange look. "Goodness, Momo, take a breath once in a while." I was in a considerably better mood. Now I knew what was going on and it only cost a bottle of water. Suddenly, I turned serious again. "Now, tell me, did Sakuno look...happy?"

Momo blinked at me then smiled. "Yeah, yeah she did." I grinned. That was all I needed to know.

"Then we should get out of here before getting accused of soliciting," I said, half-joking, half-serious. Standing up, I brushed off my jeans and stretched out my arms. Leading the way, I climbed up a few more dumpsters, teetering at the top of the fence until hopping down at the street below. Checking my watch, I had a mini-heart-attack when I realized it was already one-fifty. I started to take off to the nearest bus stop a few blocks away.

"Bye, everyone!" I called, waving behind me. "It was nice to meet you all!"

Taking off, I shrugged my backpack over my shoulders and started to sprint.

Only later would I realize my phone was gone. Maybe I shouldn't have even come today. How many times had Mom always told me, _curiosity killed the cat and it'll kill you too. _Perhaps I was too impulsive. That's just how I am. Impatient, ignorant, and short-tempered, unlike Sakuno. We've grown apart from all those years I lived in America with Mom and Dad. How was I supposed to know that an unzipped pocket would be my downfall? I didn't. I hadn't thought it through half as well as I had previously thought I did.

That was my fifth mistake.


	6. I Stop Saying I

**Thanks everyone who read this new chapter!**

**Sabanoodles: Thanks for the continuous advice; I've been fixing everything! If you guys haven't noticed, I'm a pretty bad proof-reader. And I try REALLY HARD to update as quickly as I can, but if I'm working on other stories or just my own stuff (I have a life outside of Fanfiction...pshhh...I'm...social and...stuff...) please understand.**

**All the support: Thank you guys so much! It means a lot to know people care enough about my writing to comment! Sometimes I get kind of...erm...annoyed when I feel no one's looking at my hard work. So everyone, I really really really love you guys! (You know what I mean) ^_^**

**Thanks everyone for their comments and...yup!**

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I think it was the absence of ringing that first struck me. Now, mind you, I'm not saying I'm one of those girls who texts every few seconds and gets ten billion dollars on her phone bill at the end of the month. However, usually _someone _would call. Sometimes it was Sakuno reminding me to get the frozen meat out of the freezer to defrost or Grandma saying tennis practice was running late or even just a sales call.

So I dug through my bag, unconcerned, thinking my phone was just on silent. Ten minutes later, I had cleared everything out of my pack and shook the whole thing out upside-down in a vain attempt at possibly getting it out. And after I had still dug through the pockets very thoroughly.

Once again, I am _not _one of those _I 3 txting, like, OMG he is sooo hawt and wats math hw? _people. However, I _am _one of those _Grandma, please don't kill me because I lost my cell phone _people.

My first thought was, it fell out at home. My second thought, after I had turned everything upside-down and then right-side up (yes, my Grandma really _is _that scary when pissed) as I sat in my room was that Sakuno never had this problem. I'm serious. My sister's _never _lost her phone. She has this little knitted case stitched into the inside fabric of every bag she owns that Sakuno made herself. I wasn't that kind of person to take that much time on something like that.

After rocking and thinking to myself, I decided to do the brave thing: have Sakuno deliver the bad news about how my phone was lost. Yes. That was the only option. To be brave.

I heard the door open and waited for Sakuno to come up at the stairs where I was waiting, but as I prepared to start pleading, she shot me such an angry look that I closed my mouth immediately.

"Hey, Uno," I said nervously. When I first got here, I had misunderstood the pronunciation of _Sakuno _and instead heard _Uno_. Needless to say, the name stuck.

"Serena," Sakuno said, usually smiling mouth pressed into a stern line. I thought she found out...that somehow Sakuno realized we'd been following her and was now angry and hated me so much that she'd never talk or cook or help me ever again. But then I took a deep breath and reassured myself that it was a very slim chance of that to be possible.

_It's alright. She doesn't know._

"Serena," Sakuno started again, her usually sweet brown eyes creased into a gaze of anger and...and..._sadness_. She wasn't angry as she was _sad. _My sister didn't care about my curiosity; Uno wanted my trust. I found myself wet-eyed.

_Why did I always have to be so darn meddlesome?_

Uno looked at me sadly, no longer stern-faced or angry. Just sad.

"Sakuno..." I started then closed my mouth in defeat.

_What could I say to make this all better? What could I do?_

As I wondered in defeat, Uno reached into her bag and pulled out my cell phone. She handed it to me, the cold surface feeling a thousand times colder.

Sakuno gave me a small smile and a hard candy. It was one of those wax paper wrapped, caramel lozenges that had little things that resembled fortune cookie fortunes written onto the wrapper. They were my favorite. Closing my eyes I turned my head down until I heard her leave, the door of her bedroom closing. This was Sakuno's way of saying, _I forgive you. _But I didn't want forgiveness; well, I didn't _know _what I wanted.

To know every detail of my sister's life?

To protect her from embarrassment?

It was a while later when I went into my room. I unwrapped the candy and pressed the caramel onto my tongue, savoring the sweet taste against the bitterness of the words I didn't say. Looking at the paper, I gave a bark of dry laughter.

**Avoid impulsively making things worse.**

It was funny how just a little candy wrapper can spin something completely in a different direction that it was going in the first place. Maybe it was for the better, maybe it was for the worse. I was going to find out soon enough though, right? Lying down on my bed, I considered what I could do to show Sakuno how sorry I felt.

After hours of staring up at the ceiling, I finally came up with an idea. Maybe it was there this whole time, but I had just ignored it because of how embarrassing, humbling, and _effective _it would be. It would be awful to me. It would be me facing my biggest fear.

But what was fear to love?

I told myself not to back down and not to screw up this one. One more clean slate. No more mistakes. Maybe the fact that I had told myself _not _to make any more mistakes was a mistake in itself.

But everything eventually linked back to that one thing:

**Avoid impulsively making things worse.**

I'm not talking about the candy. This is about _me_; not about Uno, not about Grandma, not about anyone else. Just me and my arrogance, my aggressiveness, my impulsivity. Did it hurt more to know Uno still forgave me, or to know that she no longer trusted me?

I knew one thing: a regular apology wouldn't work. Sakuno already forgave me, so now I needed to atone myself in her eyes. Sitting up, I felt new determination course through my veins like adrenaline.

Tearing out a piece of paper from one of my notebooks, I scribbled out a list and when I finished, I held it up and read it over again and again and again. Finally satisfied, I stuffed the paper into my backpack and sat down, swiveling aimlessly on my wheelie chair. I was determined. I was sure.

This plan was fool-proof, direct, and would be successful. I should've known thinking that was just plain dumb. Nothing is set in stone, but I felt high on determination. Maybe I was stubborn. Maybe I was just being careless. But nothing has an outcome that can be seen. The only way to know the future is to live through it, but by then we don't say that the 'future' is the 'future' anymore; now it's the past. Yet I had still been positive it would work.

That was my sixth mistake.

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**Okay, so about the fortune cookie thing, I really **_**did **_**get a fortune cookie with the exact words on the candy wrapper.**

**And looking over this whole story, I realize that all these chapters have only a few hundred more words than my other story, Songs of a Lightless Star, which only has **_**two **_**chapters. And I only wrote that story in two days, so now I feel like I should pay more attention to this one. I'll try and update soon!**


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